Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Summer Door Wreath, Pinterest Failure

In the summer there are few things as beautiful of fresh flowers. But they are not really great for hanging on the front door. When I started this project I thought I could make a basket for our entry that could hang on the door. It was way to heavy even before it was watered.....back to the drawing board.

This is my Pinterest failure read on to find out why

I
found a post on Pinterest that I really liked and wanted to try. It did not
come with directions; as it is an item that was for sale on Etsy. If you do not make your own things

I highly recommend this Etsy site as these are beautiful wreaths that cover most of the seasons.

This is my inspiration summer door wreath. I love how fresh it looks, but of course I always have to make these things for myself. So my first try I did not really look close enough and for the first time I had my first Pinterest fail. Me being a very
confident crafter and gardener. I just dove right in and started making a door wreath for
myself, that I thought looked comparable but original to the wreath I had found on Pinterest. If I had looked closer the photo I would have realized the flowers were artificial and I would have
been successful too.

Out came all of the needed supplies, a dollar store basket, ribbon to hang the basket from the door, some beautiful pink fabric. I even added a bottle to slow feed the live plants, just because the basket was in an out of the way location. .

The supplies for the door basket

T

The basket assembled waiting for plants

I use an old bottle in lots of my pots to help keep them watered in the summer months. When the flowers get growing you cannot even see them. You fill them with water, leave the lid on. Put a small hole or two near the fill hole of the bottle. You then put them in upside down but full into the soil. Then you surround them with your live plants and they do not to watered as often.

The flowers were just planted and as all gardeners know it takes time for them to look just the way you want them to. Unlike silk flowers that instantly have the look you want. So when my husband got home I asked him to help me hang my basket. That was when I realized what a big miscalculation I had made. What I had not accounted for was the even before I had watered the basket it weighed about 30 pounds. Too much for my little hook. So it was time to start all over. Its not that it did not look really sweet it just was too heavy to hang on the door, I did find another pot for my flowers and a easier location for them. I then started a new door wreath.

This time I started with the ribbon hanging on the door.

Two little holes in the side of the cardboard dish and add some floral foam. This could not be easier.Cover the foam with a little moss. I pick this up at the dollar store. I usually keep a little stock, you never know when you might want to hide something in a basket our floral arrangement and moss works perfect for lots of quick fixes.

Add some odds and ends of silk flowers. It just happens this is what I had laying around and I think I am happy with them. If later in the summer I find the colours need changing that will not take very long. The next time I am at Micheals or somewhere with a better selection of silk flowers I might pick up something more like the inspiration, but for now, I am happy. I added a cute little clip on butterfly that I picked up at Pier one at Easter. And the whole thing only weighs about 3 pounds.

I added a little 3M hook at the bottom to keep the basket from swinging back and forth when you open the door.

So lesson learned, I hope I save you from making the same mistake, or inspire you to make a little door basket like mine.